News and Thanet issues. Ramsgate Margate and Broadstairs are the three main towns on The Isle of Thanet situated in the far southeast of England.
I run the bookshop in Ramsgate see www.michaelsbookshop.com I publish over 100 books about the history of this area click here to look at them.

Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Arlington House Listed Building Status, turned down by English Heritage

Like it or hate it Arlington House is a significant piece of architecture representative of its time and as it is likely to be with us for some time then listed status would have had some advantages.

I know the picture above is extreme but in this instance I think it saves me some words to convey where I am coming from.

I guess listed status would have been difficult for some powerful and wealthy organisations, however I am sure this wouldn’t have influenced the English Heritage decision.

We know many don't like it. Building it in the first place is an example of how developers get things done in Thanet circumventing the democratic process. But demolition isn't on the cards. So perhaps it is more useful to discuss what to do with it. TDC is the freeholder. The leaseholder, Freshwater, one of the richest companies in the country have the responsibility for it's upkeep. TDC have the responsability to ensure standards are upheld. So why not enforce the terms of the lease and stop Freshwater holding Thanet to ransom. Listing would have ensured the correct windows are installed on replacement and that the shops be renovated sympathtically. Probably also that any proposed superstore be a reasonable size for a seafront location.

Possibly, for future reference, it may be a good idea to check your facts. Call me old fashioned if you like, but one expects anyone blogging on something so specific to be in full possession of the facts.

Residents of Arlington House are not permitted to install sky dishes, or any similar fandangle, on the outside of the building.

I'm disappointed to note comments from Peter Checksfield as I've used a script which, up until now, has spared me his knee-jerk inanities. I may have to add the url of your blog to the script. Wish me luck.

No such script exists on any of my webpages the JavaScrip here is ether written by me and linked to michaelsbookshop.com for live functionality, or is part of blogger. Same applies to thanetblogs.blogspot.co.uk and the scripts there that are also used by other Thanet bloggers and linked to michaelsbookshop.com all of the scripts can be viewed by selecting view source code in your browser.

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Saturday for me was pure self indulgence, so first I went to Canterbury Cathedral, I have to admit that I find advent one of the hardest ...

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Local history facilities.

Much of the local history I publish is available for free on this blog, in some cases I have linked whole books to blog postings, if you want a printed copy of one of the books I publish click here postage is free to UK addresses.

Alternatively you can of course come to my bookshop in Ramsgate and browse them and about 30,000 secondhand books on other subjects, remember we close Thursdays and Sundays.